Effect of Azilsartan on Day-to-Day Variability in Home Blood Pressure: A Prospective Multicenter Clinical Trial.

Background: The blood pressure variability (BPV) such as visit-to-visit, day-by-day, and ambulatory BPV has been also shown to be a risk of future cardiovascular events. However, the effects of antihypertensive therapy on BPV remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of azilsartan after switching from another angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) on day-to-day BPV in home BP monitoring.

Clinical evaluation of CENP-B and Scl-70 autoantibodies in silicosis patients.

Silicosis patients (SIL) suffer from respiratory disorders and dysregulation of autoimmunity. Frequent complications such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis (SSc) and vasculitis are known in SIL. Furthermore, we reported previously that some SIL exhibited better respiratory conditions in association with a worse immunological status.

Silica exposure and altered regulation of autoimmunity.

Silica particles and asbestos fibers, which are known as typical causatives of pneumoconiosis, induce lung fibrosis. Moreover, silicosis patients often complicate with autoimmune diseases, and asbestos-exposed patients suffer from malignant diseases such as pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer. We have been conducting experimental studies to investigate altered regulation of self-tolerance caused by silica exposure, including analyses using specimens such as plasma and immunocompetent cells obtained from silicosis patients, as a means of examining the supposition that silica exposure induces molecular and cellular biological alterations of immune cells.

Efficacy of omeprazole, famotidine, mosapride and teprenone in patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms: an omeprazole-controlled randomized study (J-FOCUS).

Background: In Japan, treatment guidelines are lacking for patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms. We aimed to compare the efficacy of different drugs for the treatment of uninvestigated upper gastrointestinal symptoms.

Methods: This was a randomized, open-label, parallel-group multicenter study.

Cytokine alteration and speculated immunological pathophysiology in silicosis and asbestos-related diseases.

This review is partly composed of the presentation "Cytokine alteration and speculated immunological pathophysiology in silicosis and asbestos-related diseases" delivered during the symposium "Biological effects of fibrous and particulate substances and related areas" organized by the Study Group of Fibrous and Particulate Studies of the Japanese Society of Hygiene and held at the 78th Annual Meeting in Kumamoto, Japan. In this review, we briefly introduce the results of recent immunological analysis using the plasma of silica and asbestos-exposed patients diagnosed with silicosis, pleural plaque, or malignant mesothelioma. Thereafter, experimental background and speculation concerning the immunological pathophysiology of silica and asbestos-exposed patients are discussed.

Comparison of the effects of omeprazole and famotidine in treatment of upper abdominal symptoms in patients with reflux esophagitis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) with H(2) receptor antagonist (H(2)RA) in treatment of upper abdominal symptoms.

Methods: This was a multi-center, open study conducted at 102 hospitals in Japan. Patients with reflux esophagitis received famotidine 10 mg twice daily for 2 weeks, then omeprazole 10 mg once daily for 2 weeks.

[Study of a CT scanning method that improves gravity effects to enable differentiation of inflammatory diseases in chest CT].

In chest CT images, the dorsal lower lung field often shows an infiltration-like shadow in patients who cannot stop breathing or take a deep breath. The cause of this phenomenon might be due to the effects of gravity. Since we had observed decreased effects of gravity by conducting additional CT scanning for patients in an oblique position (55 degrees ) or a nearly lateral position, we conducted a clinical study to investigate this matter.

Alterations of Fas and Fas-related molecules in patients with silicosis.

Persons with silicosis have not only respiratory disorders but also autoimmune diseases. To clarify the mechanisms involved in the dysregulation of autoimmunity found in patients with silicosis, we have been focusing on Fas and Fas-related molecules in the Fas-mediated apoptotic pathway, because Fas is one of the most important molecules regulating auto-immunity involving T cells. Our findings showed that patients with silicosis exhibited elevated serum soluble Fas levels, an increased relative expression of the soluble fas and dcr3 genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, high levels of other variant messages of the fas transcript, relatively decreased expression of genes encoding several physiological inhibitors (such as survivin and toso), and dominancy of lower-membrane Fas expressers in lymphocytes, which transcribe soluble fas dominantly, compared with soluble fas transcription in healthy donors.

Anti-caspase-8 autoantibody response in silicosis patients is associated with HLA-DRB1, DQB1 and DPB1 alleles.

We reported previously the autoantibodies directed to caspase-8 among patients with silicosis, systemic sclerosis (SSc) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) , and in healthy individuals. In this study, we analyzed the correlation between anti-caspase-8 autoantibody responses and HLA class II alleles in silicosis patients. The frequencies of HLA-DRB1*0406 were significantly higher in antibody positive patients (16.

Detection of anti-topoisomerase I autoantibody in patients with silicosis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to detect anti-topoisomerase I (anti-topo I) autoantibodies, which are known to be limited in systemic sclerosis patients, in silicosis patients with no clinical symptoms of autoimmune disease.

Methods: Serum anti-topo I autoantibodies were detected using ELISA. Differences in clinical parameters between patients with and without anti-topo I autoantibodies were analyzed.